I Can Tell By The Way You Carry Yourself
by christinaxa
Summary: Steve takes care of Kono after a long day filled with harrowing situations. Coda to 3.07 "Ohuna". Mild spoilers & some fluff ahead. Established Steve/Kono of course.


_**Disclaimer: **__Show and characters not mine, as much as I wish they were._

_**A/N:**__ Thank you for all the kind reviews and/or PM for my last story. I truly appreciate all the support! So, what did everyone think about that episode on Monday? I was so very pleased to see that our favorite girl Kono was finally given more time to shine on screen, both kicking ass and relating to children so well. Most importantly, we finally have a bit of Steve/Kono interaction to work with! I do hope that the writers will continue on with this trend..._

_Anyways, this is a coda to 3.07 where Steve takes care of Kono after the events of the day. (No Doris, Mary, or their story line here.) **Beware:** it's quite fluffy and heavy on the descriptions, which is not usually my style, but I really couldn't help it this time, haha. Hope you guys enjoy!_

* * *

Kono wakes when she hears Steve's voice and feels him caressing her face. She blinks a few times, finding that they have just arrived home as he gets out of the truck and to walk over to her side. As he helps her out of the car, she winces as she puts some weight on her right leg, while every part of her body radiates pain. It takes them a while to get upstairs once inside, but when they do she thanks him with a kiss. He nods and heads back downstairs to make them some dinner, as she pulls out her sleep tank top and boy shorts before heading into the bathroom.

She slowly takes her clothes off after turning on the light and deposits the clean clothes on the counter, wincing whenever the fabric drags across her wounds. Kono frowns as she examines her favorite red blouse that was now ruined with holes and blood. Reaching into the shower she turns the knob to the hottest setting she could bear. It was going to sting, but the temperature of the water would relax the tension in her body.

Stepping under the spray, Kono sighs contently as the hot water hits her back and shoulders, but as the water runs down her front where most of the injuries were, she hisses as the familiar pain jolts of pain spreads through her body. She grabs the washcloth and gently cleans the dirt from the wounds on her arms and legs, eager to get rid of the immediate pain as well as the filth from the rest of her body. She allows the water to beat down her back for another five minutes afterwards before turning it off and steps out of the shower.

The mirror had fogged up slightly from the heat, but Kono was still able to see her full reflection and carefully examines the injuries. The road rash on her thigh was an angry red, accompanied by some additional cuts along her calves. Her arms and abdomen displayed a mixture of light and dark bruises from her attempts to block Winston's hard blows. As she reaches for her towel, she gasps as a sharp jolt of pain spreads through her midsection... yeah, her ribs were definitely bruised. She grumbles to herself, knowing there was no way she'd be able to surf for at least the next week. She slowly dries off, occasionally flinching in pain when she twists or turns too much or when the towel comes into contact with her cuts. Eventually, she's able to get her clean clothes on and makes her way downstairs.

* * *

Steve smiles as he sees Kono limp into the kitchen and sit down at the counter. "Feel better?" He asked as he plates her dinner and sets it down in front of her. She nods and smiles back. "Much better." She replies as she started to dig into her food.

He eyes her wounds and movements, taking note of how she is slightly hunched over with her arm draped across her abdomen. "Okay. I'm going to go take a shower, then I'll grab some stuff to put on your injuries."

Kono looks up from her food to him, exasperation written on her face. "Steve, I'm not a child. I can take care of them myself." The overprotective boyfriend in Steve was coming out again, as it does dozens of times throughout the day.

Steve smirks at her. "I know you can, but since you refused to go to the hospital to let someone take a look at you, you get me instead. It's not up for discussion." He shuts her up with a quick kiss on her lips when she opens her mouth to argue. "By the way, check the fridge when you're done." He adds and she quirks an eyebrow. Before she could ask or protest any further, he had already walked out of the kitchen.

She sets her dish in the sink when she finishes and pulls the refrigerator door open. Chuckling, she shakes her head when she sees the chocolate soufflé with a large dollop of whipped cream on top. He must have stopped to buy it after work, when she was passed out in the truck from exhaustion. She grabs the bowl, a spoon, and starts to dig into it with a smile on her lips. If he was going to get her favorite dessert from her favorite bakery, then the least she could do is let him have his way. At least for tonight.

* * *

Steve is already out of the shower and pulling out the first-aid supplies from the top drawer in their dresser when Kono makes her way back upstairs. She walks up and wraps her arms around him from behind and kisses his shoulder. "Thanks for the dessert, baby." She says as he turns around and circles his arms around her shoulders, careful to avoid her injuries.

He grins at her. "I figured you'd want one after the day you had. Besides, it was the easiest, fail proof way to get you to comply." Kono only rolls her eyes at his _meticulous _strategy for _everything_. "Come on, sit on the bed so I can take a look at you," he says as he releases her from his hold to put the supplies on the bed.

Kono sits down slowly, arm draping across her midsection again as she again feels the jolts of pain from her movements. She backs up to the pillows and leans against the headboard, sighing softly and closing her eyes.

Steve settles next to her on the bed and lifts her left leg to rest in his lap. He examines the angry red road rash and frowns at the sight. There was still some dirt visible in the wound; she must have tried to clean it but didn't get deep enough because of the pain. He reaches for the sodium chloride solution and pours some onto a rough gauze pad. As he presses down with some light pressure and begins to clean it, Kono yelps as she involuntary jerks up from the pain. Luckily, his firm hold on her knee prevents him from getting smacked in the face.

"What are you doing?!" She hisses, eyes now wide open again.

He looks her in the eye. "I'm trying to get rid of the dirt. You didn't manage to get clean it properly in the shower."

"Oh my god," Kono moans and she covers her eyes with her hand. "Is that the salt solution? It burns..."

"Sorry babe, it needs to be done." He says as he presses back down on the rash, while trying to hold her leg still. "See, aren't you glad I'm looking after you? If you '_took care'_ of it by yourself you could have gotten an infection later on."

Kono only lifts her hand from her eyes and smacks him on the shoulder, but smiles slightly nonetheless. "Okay, okay. I love you and I was wrong, I do need you to take care of me sometimes. Now can you hurry up so we can get this over with?" She groans again. Steve smirks back at her and finishes up at an impressive rate. Must have come from years of practice from being a Navy SEAL, she surmises. He wraps the now-clean wound up and presses a kiss on her thigh above the bandage. "Alright, hard part's over." He releases his hold on her knee in order to grab the Neosporin and rub it onto the other cuts visible on her leg.

After that was done, he makes his way up to her face and cups her jaw, rubbing the salve onto her bruised cheek. Unfortunately for Kono, that area seemed to be much more sensitive, resulting in her squirming around and trying to smack his hand away. Steve starts laughing at her childish antics and she can't help but do the same even through the slight pain. If someone were to walk in to the room right now, they would probably think the two of them had gone insane. Although, that's probably not too far from what people already thought of them since tossing grenades seem to be a favorite pastime of theirs. Luckily, Kono's thoughts and laughter seemed to distract from the pain Steve's pressure was putting on her cheek. With one final swipe of his thumb, he was done. "You are such a baby sometimes. It's ridiculous," he says while pressing kisses on her lips. Kono grins at him and frames his face with her hands, kissing him back.

It was getting a little too heated and as much as Steve loathed to stop, he knew her health came first and tonight was definitely not the night for any more _physical _activity. "Alright, alright," he pulls away breathlessly. "Kono, baby, we have to stop. You need to relax, not exert yourself." She huffs, but nods in agreement. Steve smiles back and tucks the loose strands of hair behind her ear. "I'll be right back. I'm going to grab an icepack for your ribs." He kisses her forehead before leaping off the bed and heading for the kitchen.

* * *

When Steve makes his way back into the room, Kono is pulling her top off, leaving her clad in only her bra and boy shorts. He pauses for a second, admiring her stunning body even with the cuts the bruises marring it. He quickly snaps out of his trance, and walks back to the bed with the ice pack in his hand. She sits up straighter, allowing him to wrap it around her abdomen and she gasps at the cold contact on her skin.

After making sure it was secure, Steve carefully slips in the bed behind her and pulls her between his legs. She leans back onto his strong and warm chest, head resting on his right shoulder. "You comfortable?" He asks, and she nods and smiles as his hands begin to make their way to her neck and shoulders. She sighs happily as his fingers start to knead into her, the pressure gradually releasing the tension in her muscles consequent to the fight in the afternoon. Very few people knew this, but Steve could give a mean massage. The contrast never fails to amaze Kono; her boyfriend could literally kill people with his bare hands when the occasion called for it, yet away from the job those same hands catered to her with incredible gentleness. Even though she had protested earlier, now, she couldn't be appreciative that he had insisted on taking care of her.

"Oh my god, that's the spot," she moans in delight as his fingers push into the juncture between the left side of her neck and shoulder, working out the knot that had formed and bothered her since the afternoon. As he focuses on his task, they fall into a comfortable silence, save for her small sighs and purrs whenever Steve hits a particularly tricky spot.

"Thank you, baby," she murmurs after a few quiet moments and shifts her head to press a kiss on his neck. His thumb starts to push up and down the back of her neck and onto the base of her skull. "Welcome, babe," he replies, and she can feel his smile against her forehead. "I could tell that side of your neck had the most stiffness."

"No, I mean, thank you for today," she clarifies. "Coming after me... hiding under the truck and getting dragged around. You didn't have to do that..." She feels slightly guilty for putting him in that position, even though it wasn't at all her fault.

Steve turns to look her straight in the eyes. "You know that I will always come for you, Kono, I don't care how dangerous it is. I'd do it all over again if it means getting you out of harm's way," he says without hesistation. There was a brief pause before he continues. "You scared me today," he admits in low voice and looks away, stroking her neck softly. "When you fell out of the truck and I heard Chin yelling your name and Danny swearing through the comm... I couldn't see what happened-"

She interrupts him, not wanting him to think of the worst-case scenario again as he tends to do sometimes. "I know, and I'm sorry. I wanted to throw him off but he had a death grip on me," she explains as they eye the bruises on her upper arm. "It was a stupid move in hindsight... should have just tried to knock him out in the truck." She looks back up at him and runs her fingers along his tensed jaw. "Hey, look at me. I'm here; I'm in one piece. Stop worrying, okay?" He exhales deeply and nods, her steady gaze and touch calming and reassuring him.

"Good," she says and changes the subject swiftly. "Now can you get this ice pack off me? It's freezing and I want to go to sleep," she asks as he finally smiles and chuckles again, deciding to take her advice to stop overthinking it. He unwraps the pack, tossing it onto the nightstand and lifts the covers up. Kono gingerly lies down on her back while Steve takes his usual position on his stomach, wrapping his arm around her gently. "You know, I'm going to have to pay you back for all your services tonight," she teases as they settle in and he caresses the side of her hip.

Steve grins and leans into kiss her deeply. "I can think of a few ways. You're going to need to make sure you're back to 100% first though, babe." He says in a deep voice. "What I have in mind is going to wear your body out even more..."

* * *

_End._


End file.
